Match of the Millennium

Description: With the competition ramping up and more attention being drawn from around the world, Juri knows it is only a matter of time before the powers in the shadows start making moves. Can she whip Genie into shape before then? Can she even figure out how to do that? She's not a teacher and Genie is not the kind of student she'd pick if she was. But the lessons can be delayed no longer... and there are very, very distant memories from the Taekwonda's past which might prove helpful.

[JURI]
The Frost Warehouse is... certainly an interesting base of operations. And it has been made more interesting in the aftermath of recent schemes; the interior of the warehouse has suffered badly, with burnmarks across the floor and a fair amount of water damage. Juri has made a vague effort to clean it up, perhaps surprisingly given her general attitude, but she gets bored quickly. Besides, there's more important things to worry about than whether some concrete dust is getting swept up properly.

The message to Genie's phone was a terse 'Get over here'. The rest of the team is out. She'd even sent Daisuke on an errand, ostensiably related to repairing the damage but really a good excuse to get him out of the way for several hours. Eventually, she's going to want to bring him in on this training, but for now... she needs to cover the basics. That's easier one on one.

So it is the middle of the day on a Tuesday, the oppressive Sunshine City weather might make the interior of the warehouse seem marginally more comforting, but for the woman herself, sat in the middle of the half-destroyed space. Juri has abandoned her 'disguise' and returned to the purple bodysuit and devil-horn hairstyle that she prefers. There aren't many people who can make scrolling through her phone look menacing, and yet... Juri does just that. It's impressive, really.

[GENIE]
From the moment she was recruited, Genie had some trepidation about the whole "Team Frost" group. She had wanted to train, certainly. She had wanted to get stronger, most certainly. She had wanted to learn more about her unique "talents," of course.

She was not so sure she wanted to do this with her eccentric set of trainers.

And so, when Guinevere--Genie--received a terse text from her troubling tutor. Well...she wobbles a little at the door of the warehouse, takes a deep breath, and slowly pushes the door open while giving it a knock.

"Um, yes. I am here." Speaking English as her third language, Genie's speech is just a little stilted, but that's why she's traveling! "You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

[JURI]
"Yeah. I wanted to see you."

Juri stands and walks towards the young woman. There probably isn't that much between them in either age or height, but it's... difficult to remember that, when Juri turns her attention on someone. The way she moves is casual violence; Juri embodies the predator in predatory grace. It is easy to see why Genie wouldn't want any part of that. The fact that Juri had been so CERTAIN that she wanted Genie, and only Genie, and then had immediately left the draft is, itself, perhaps a little disturbing.

Now she regards her with that one good eye.

"You've done pretty well on your own." She says, "I wanted to give you space for as long as I could, but we're not gonna have that luxury from here on out. Things are heating up. So. Free study is over. Your lessons are getting more structured."

She sighs, straightens, and cracks her neck.

"I haven't even got the basics on you. Visualisation seems good. Control is, okay. But technique is abysmal. So. Tell me. What is it YOU think you're doing when you get out there, huh?"

[GENIE]
Genie seems to shrink when Juri says it. There have been many times when people have wanted to see her. Her school friends. Her family friends from her father's business. Even some fans, recently, who were impressed with her showings in the NFG. When Juri says it, however, it feels different.

When the Korean woman approaches her, the Swiss miss visibly shrinks where she's standing. She stands at something resembling attention, a pale imitation of a dojo student standing for their sensei or sifu to inspect their stance. She swallows big, but doesn't say anything until spoken to.

"Ah, yes, thank you, ma'am," Genie says. "It has gotten harder, yes, I, ah."

"I mostly try to watch what they do," Genie admits, "and use my moves when I can ..."

[JURI]
The shrinking back visibly annoys Juri, who doesn't bother to hide her irritation from her face. Her lip curls in a sneer, and she straightens that little bit more. It is as though the weakness displayed by the Swiss girl calls to the domineering element in Juri's own demeanor. There's a big, big part of Juri that wants to just start bullying this kid... but that wouldn't exactly help either of them, would it?

"Straighten up and look me in the eye, damnit. I haven't even attacked you yet."

She clucks her tongue, hands coming up behind her head as she idly kicks her foot.

"Okay. So. No clue." She says, "Let's start right from the beginning then. Your power comes from your mind. Your, soul, if you want to call it that. This might surprise you, but there's probably less than one in a hundred fighters worldwide who can use that power. Learn to use it properly, and you'll be stronger than most normal fighters can dream of. Anything you can imagine, if you've got enough will, you can make happen. You following me?"

[GENIE]
Biting her lip, Genie seems to pick up on the disgust from Juri. She straightens up a bit, shakily when she does, but there's an effort. "Ah, sorry, ma'am. --yet..." she mouths that last part quietly.

"Ah, well, ... I did watch some videos on FightTube and imitate so katas but...not really anything formal, no." When Juri explains further, Genie blinks several times. In that moment, something seems to click that didn't before. She swallows again.

"R-really? It is that rare?" There's a mixture of surprise but also, beneath it, a bit of pride.

"I follow!" Genie quickly adds. "I will do my best!"

[JURI]
Juri just regards Genie for several seconds after the statement that she will 'do her best'. She lets it hang in the air, ambiguous, and then she nods her head once, sharply.

"Yeah, you will." She confirms, "Look. Standard training isn't going to get you anywhere. The stuff you learn on FightTube is for normies. It helps to learn to throw a punch, but that's not where your strength lays."

She reaches out, then, and flicks the girl right between the eyes. Not, hard enough to hurt. But certainly enough to startle.

"Your power is in this pretty little head of yours. What we need to work on is your will."

[GENIE]
For a moment, Genie tenses up, expecting to get a solid whap. When she doesn't, she opens her eyes again.

"Um, OK. I think I can do that." Her will, right? She needs to work on that. "No no. I have to do it. I will do it. Yes." She clenches her fists and the purple-haired girl steels herself.

"OK. So how do we build on that? I, ah, the martial arts do help to though, right? I feel like I should work on this too..." She catches herself. "But I trust your judgment, ma'am."

[JURI]
The sneer at least disappears. Juri can appreciate the effort; it's cute. It's not anywhere near enough, but, it's cute.

"Martial arts can help." She agrees, "And I've got a training partner in mind who will help you with that. She's got little experience with her energy but she's at a decent level with her body. Your body is pathetic, but your energy levels are high. Should be fun."

She steps back two paces, then, and takes a deep breath. "Okay." She says, "There's a lot of mental exercises that can help. Meditation. Spatial mapping techniques. But I've never had much luck with them. So we're going to speedrun it. I'm going to show you something, and your job is not to run away. Get ready."

[GENIE]
"Right," Genie nods. A training partner? The mention of it seems to get Genie's eyes to widen. Maybe she's thrilled to know who it is. Perhaps she's instead terrified. Learning that her body is pathetic, at least in Juri's opinion, makes her deflate just as quickly as she was inspired.

"Meditation...spatial exercises..." This makes sense, Genie could work with this, she just needs to figure out what she's doing and then...

"Oh, um." Genie repositions, trying to get into a fighting stance. She doesn't know what to expect, but that seems...ready? Right?

[JURI]
Juri looks a little more contemplative at Genie's reactions, "Hm. Yeah. I'm getting the picture." She muses, "This is going to be tough for you."

There are a lot of different ways psychic powers can manifest. The simplistic idea that one in a hundred had the gift was only part of the story; Juri had seen enough in her career with Shadaloo to know that whilst these things might come from the same tree... it had many, many branches. Genie, she suspected, felt her emotions very strongly. Which might make this a terrible idea.

She gives an approving nod at the fighting stance. "Good instinct." She says, "Try to hold onto that. Attack me, if you want." And then, the smile. Wide, teasing and terrible.

"It won't help."

Her hand sweeps up and removes the eyepatch, revealing what lays beneath. The Feng Shui Engine burns in her socket like a tiny purple star; brilliant and awful and fascinating all at once. Juri calls upon the artificial Psycho Power within the eye-shaped furnace, and it answers.

All at once, her casual air of menace is magnified ten times over, then a hundred times. She radiates violent, sadistic urges. The energies stimulate the primal part of the mind; the part that fears to be prey of larger predators. She's still the same woman physically, and yet with a simple step forward and a wave of her hand...

It's an insolent motion that speaks of oncoming doom. As though that vaguely-bored half-shrug is an absolute promise that this terrifying monster is going to eat Genie up, bones and all.

"How does this make you ~feel?~"

Daisuke, sensitive but heroic soul that he was, had stood his ground. Coco, with all that arrogant bravado, had actually managed to mouth off. Genie...?

[GENIE]
Genie rocks on her heels, forward, then back, then forward again. There's a spring in her movements, an uncertain but definite need to keep moving and to be ready for anything. One thing she has learned is she can't wait for the fight to go unless she wants to get caught flat-footed. Perhaps, in her mind, she keeps repeating that back to herself: <Don't get caught flat-footed, Genie.>

Juri is right. It does not help. In that instant, the Feng Shui Engine glows and it feels like a whole world of blackness, dread, and doom congregrates all in that warehouse, once huge, not claustrophically small. In that moment, Juri moves, subtly, a shrug of her shoulders, yet it feels so dreadful, so intimidating, so overwhelmingly powerful that Genie feels like her soul is going to come up her throat.

<This is it,> Genie thinks. Juri Han is going to gobble her up entirely and she'll be gone without a trace. No one will ever know, no one will ever find her, no one will ever...

Genie snaps to attention as something spikes at the base of her neck. A spark in the brainstem, like a car cranking from a cold start. Her eyes close, then open wide with the roil of a storm behind them.

Without thinking, Genie throws up a barrier. A pink-purple flare of psychic power erupts from her aura into the shape of a shield. A vague shape, reckless and unpolished, but a shield nonetheless. It shimmers there for a moment as Genie gets a breather, then disipates as Genie drops down to her knees and palms, sweating and breathing heavily.

"What was that?" I-I-I-" She swallows. "I have not felt something like that."

[JURI]
"... Hm. Interesting."

Juri pulls the eyepatch back into place and grinds her teeth as the Engine continues to burn in her skull. For a moment, she rubs her palm into the socket. The damn thing is busted; a prototype that she's not been able to keep maintained. So very different to the wonderful, polished work of art she had taken from her. But it is still useful. As much as it tries to exert its murderous influence on her, she has the will to keep it under control. And even a broken Feng Shui Engine is worth more than most countries.

"Psycho Power." She replies, as the aura of nameless dread fades away from her. She steps forwards, offers her hand to help the girl back up to her feet.

"You didn't run." She says, "You defended yourself. Good instinct. We can build on that."

She hesitates, then. This kind of thing is not her forte but she is aware, vaguely, that other people tend to like positive reinforcement. And having their basic needs met.

"You need a drink or something?"

[GENIE]
Genie keeps drawing heaving breaths for several moments as her heartrate gets back into a region somewhere it should be. She slides her palms across the floor of the warehouse like she's trying to grab onto something for comfort, but it's cold cement offers nothing.

"Psycho Power," Genie repeats back between heavy breaths. "Yes." She breathes again. "Please?"

She has not got up off the floor yet.

[JURI]
"Okay. Let's get you up."

Juri's extended hand becomes a grasping one as she seeks to grab Genie by the shoulder and lift her up off the floor. It isn't far to Juri's own private little corner of the warehouse, where some rummaging behind the screens will conclude with a chilled sports drink being tossed to the girl, and a second cracked open by her 'mentor'.

"Not nice, is it?" She asks, conversationally. "Look. This power you've got can be a great thing. It can make all your dreams come true. But it can go another way too. My job is to make sure it doesn't become a nightmare."

[GENIE]
Genie comes along when lifted. She moves with Juri without being dead weight, but her knees wobble at first on her rise. Once she's up, she follows dutifully, dabbing at her face just a bit.

"Thank you," she says. When the jug is tossed, it bounces off Genie's hands, but she makes the save and works on the lid.

"No it was not." Genie says quickly. "But I think I needed it. I did not know anyone else with powers like mine, which is part of why I signed up." When Juri suggests her role her, Genie manages a weak smile.

"Thank you. I am sorry if I am not a great student, ma'am."

[JURI]
"Tch. That's exactly what we need to work on."

Juri's irritation is clear; but it isn't so much annoyance at Genie. Well, it is, but there's some frustration with herself, too. She's not good at this kind of thing. The interpersonal element is just, not something she's had to worry about in the past. But ten minutes with Genie and she can see what the girl needs to overcome before her talents will really begin to shine.

She gestures with her bottle, "This self-effacing crap." She says, bluntly. "You're an heiress, aren't you? It'd be a lot easier if you were one of the snobby ones. You're doing fine. Better than a lot would've. But if you don't believe in yourself, you're going to stay stuck at this level. We need to boost your confidence."

[GENIE]
When Juri suggests that her attitude is the problem, Genie stops for a minute, as if started. She'd tried to be so nice to people. Why, she was a perfect lady in terms of attitude and politeness and--

Oh.

"I will work on it, ma'am. I mean, I think once I get a little more practice, maybe I can be..." Genie looks for the words. "A bit snootier, no?"

[JURI]
Juri snorts at the response, genuinely entertained. She kicks aside one of the folding screens, kicks a crate in the heiress' general direction, and then sits down on her hammock - gesturing to the crate to imply that the young woman ought to take a seat.

"Look." She says, "The thing that makes this tricky is that I can't BE you for you. If you want to know how to throw a punch or a kick, sure, I can show you that. But that's the easy stuff. It's not that you need to be me. Hell. If you were too much like me, I'd have to kick your ass."

She waves her bottle around more; definitely using it more as a prop than actually drinking at this point. "You need to believe in yourself. And you've done pretty well against the other losers in this competition. So when's it going to click that you can break skulls, huh?"

[GENIE]
Genie smoothes out the seat of her gi pants and pushes herself up onto the crate. She wiggles a little bit to get comfortable.

"Right," Genie says, nodding. When Juri adds a caveat about too much imitation, Genie bites her lip and nods again. "Of course."

She stays quiet for a few moments as Juri continues, her nodding becoming slower, more thoughtful, less reflexive. She seems more like she's listening to what Juri is saying and trying to take it in rather than acting like a child trying to avoid a punishment.

"I think...I think I can do that. I have done OK for my first time. I think if I just practice a bit and do some training, I can do this."

"I mean ..." Genie considers "I have done OK so far, so once I mix some better martial arts moves with my powers..." Genie clenches her fist. "I can do this. Thank you, ma'am!"

[JURI]
Juri regards the girl for several moments. In some ways, it's like the first time she's actually looked at her. Before, she'd been focused on trying to gauge Genie's self; her reactions, the strength of her will, her emotional capacity. She hadn't really paid much mind to how the girl had chosen to dress. Now, though, she purses her lips. Considering. She's really pretty bad at this; the girl couldn't have made it more obvious what she was hoping for if she was screaming it at her. But here it is, the route to the girl's self-confidence, staring her right in the face.

"Alright then." She says, standing up and walking to her trunk, she kicks it open and fishes out - the dobok she had been wearing. Mostly white and purple. Now that she's back in her bodysuit, she didn't have much use for this thing. As a disguise it had been paper-thin, but...

There's a memory, for Juri. The first time she'd put hers on. A lifetime ago. Before her near-death experience. Before she lost her eye. Before Shadaloo. She smirks. And then, turning back to Genie, she chucks the traditional Tae Kwon Do outfit to her.

"Get behind the screen and put this on, then. I'm not having any student of mine wearing that Japanese rubbish."

[GENIE]
As Genie watches Juri, she catches just a fraction of those feelings, like the distant sound of ocean waves as the tide comes in. There's nostalgia there, sentimentality. Genie does not comment, but instead stays at rapt attention as the Korean fishes something out of the trunk.

"Ah!" Japanese rubbish? Genie thought she'd gotten a good uniform. The website was reputable, at least, and it looked like--

"Yes ma'am!" Genie says, hopping off the trunk and moving behind the screen to change. She's gone for a surprisingly short amount of time before reappearing.

"This is nice," Genie says, looking herself over. "It is ... from Taekwondo, right?"

[JURI]
Juri nods once, sharply. "I'm a master of Tae Kwon Do as well as Psycho Power." She says, waving her hand vaguely, "In my case, the Tae Kwon Do came first and the Psycho Power came later. I can't teach you a thing about Karate, but if you want real martial arts..."

Well, of the tutors on the team, she's probably the best placed. Abigail didn't use any kind of fighting style so much as his own brutish strength, and she wouldn't really call what Goldlewis did martial arts either. She'd never seen Lynx fight at all! In fact... now she thinks about it, she hasn't really seen Lynx... since the draft.

Hm.

She takes up her stance then; raising her right leg, right arm extended, left up by her head. She meets Genie's gaze.

"Fighting is about controlling space." She says, "People think it's about speed and strength and whatever, and, sure, those things help. But mostly they're tools used to narrow your opponent's options. If they can't approach you safely, and if you don't give them room to safely retreat, you'll have them where you want them. Now. Look at my stance. What do you notice about it?"

[GENIE]
Genie nods again. She seems to be hanging on to every word as though it were gold. She might lack confidence, but her enthusiasm is strong. Juri isn't wrong; Abigail's definitely a fighter of "natural talent" in a sense, and Goldlewis operates with a greater weapon focus than Genie's style would accommodate.

When asked about the stance, the Swiss miss tilts her head and observes. She watches for a few moments, putting together her answer.

"Ah, well," She considers. Controlling space. Safe approaches. She remembers how many times she was grabbed or punched or kicked or even sworded.

"I would think..." Genie says, "it gives you...reach?"

[JURI]
Trying to build someone up really goes against everything that is in Juri's nature. She bites back her immediate response, and makes herself smile instead. It... is not, a pleasant smile. It definitely doesn't look reassuring. But she does her best.

"That's right." She says, "But there's more to it than that. See, yes, I'm ready to attack." She extends her leg slowly to demonstrate how a kick is already in motion, before drawing it back. "But I can also defend."

She sets the leg down backwards, twists slightly forward, now she's presenting a small target and with the raised position of her arm - she's ready to block.

And back to neutral stance. "Or I can approach."

And then she's dashing forwards - raised leg touches the ground and she slows down her usual rushed approach to show how this easy half-ready step leads to a swift closing of the gap between her and her student. Right into Genie's personal space.

"Try it."

[GENIE]
Genie, for a brief moment, feels like she did something terribly wrong from the surge of emotion she gets a psychic whiff of that sour response. In Juri's defense, Genie is a bit saccharine sweet for all appearances.

"Oh, wow," Genie says, watching the shifts in Juri's stance. And when Juri is suddenly in her space, Genie almost jumps.

"That is so smooth. Yes, I like this stance--ah, well, let me try."

Genie pulls up one leg and sways a bit, working to maintain her balance. After holding it for a moment, she pulls back---and almost loses her balance, were it not for some subtle TK adjustments.

"Ah, um. Do you have leg exercises you would recommend I do while practicing this one?"

[JURI]
Juri watches with a critical eye as the girl takes up her unbalanced stance. To her credit, she's able to hold it better than most. The instinctive use of energy is noted, too; promising. She can clearly see what she's meant to do, and she's pushing herself to make that visualisation reality. That's good.

There's a faint nod of genuine approval. "A bit more like this." She says, encouraging the girl to lift her leg higher - using her hands to show her the proper position, then doing the same with each arm.

"At first, you need to work on balance and movement." Juri explains, "It's not natural to move like this and maintain focus on where your arms are, be ready to respond to attacks and so on. It'll be easier when we get you a training partner. For now, just concentrate on how your body feels, getting the positioning right for offense, defense and dashing, then you can start speeding it up."

[GENIE]
"Ah, I see now," Genie says, her face a bit red, perhaps from embarrassment or maybe from exertion. She adjusts a bit to more closely mimick Juri's stance. She wobbles again, but she adjusts a bit more smoothly this time to get stability. She steadily lifts her leg higher, and in doing so, Genie realizes she should really do more leg exercises.

Genie tries the regular stance, then shifts to the defensive. She wobbles, then shifts back. She finally moves to the aggressive move forward, and just about loses it when she does.

"Did this take a lot of practice?" she asks genuinely.

[JURI]
There's more of that nostalgic feeling. And, regret? Pain, even. Juri's feelings are certainly complicated. Ayala she'd felt comfortable just giving some general advice and pitting her against the local toughs in brutal street battles. That... wasn't something that would work with Genie. Seeing her struggle with the stance in the same way she had, all those years ago, when she was just a clueless kid... tch.

"Yeah. Years." Juri says, trying to shake that line of thought off and focus on the present. "I started training when I was nine. I was good enough to take tournaments at fifteen. So about six years, more or less. But you've got some advantages."

She cracks her neck and stretches her arms out in front of her, interlacing her fingers to limber up as she walks casually around in front of the girl. "You'll get there. Eventually it'll be instinct."

And of course, she demonstrates again. Stance, move back on the defense, move back smoothly into offensive - and then, this time, she actually does attack.

Not Genie, of course. But some imaginary opponent. The Taekwonda suddenly spinning in a cartwheel kick which seems to flow so naturally out of her movements that, once she has executed the 360 degree motion, it is hard to think it could have gone any other way.

[GENIE]
"Wow," Genie says, blinking several times. She does not press further with the faint hints of negative emotions swirling around. She takes a deep breath, in, then out, and she lets it ride.

Genie repeats the motion of stance shifts a few times, getting a feel for them. She tries moving, then shifting, then moving, then shifting. Her form is uneven, and there are a number of times where she almost falls on her butt or has to reorient to keep balanced.

"Wow!" Genie comments on the kick. "I will there, um, eventually. Hopefully. For now, I think standard kicks..." She steps forward into a high one, then a low one.

[JURI]
Juri watches the kicks, smirking faintly. She had indeed gone for one of the more technically complex aspects of her style to see whether Genie would follow her unthinkingly and wind up flat on her back - the fact that the young woman has the sense not to try is a good sign. Better than she had when she was just starting out, but that's the benefit of coming to fighting older, probably.

"Not bad." She says, "With kicks, the power mostly comes from your hips." A pause, as she considers just how inexperienced her student is. Not to mention the butt-bump she'd seen in one of her fights. She continues, "Make sure you don't hit with the toes, either. That's a good way to break one. You want heel, shin or knee, ideally. Once you've got movement down, we'll work more on those techniques."

[GENIE]
Genie nods. "From the hips," she says, balancing her responses with repeating the drills from her teacher. Some are not executed as well as others, but gradually, she does seem to be getting the hang of it. She starts slow to go through the motion, then picks up speed after doing it a few times.

When Juri mentions not using her toes, Genie pauses mid-swing, looking at her feet. She mimes the kick once slowly, then twice, and seems to realize that is exactly what she'd do. She hops forward slightly, aiming at her invisible target with more of her shin, then trying a backswing to use the heel.

"Um. Thank you," Genie adds. "I did not have much formal training," she suddenly says, "my parents did not think someone like me should be fighting, but ..."

[JURI]
Juri nods her head once at the thank you. The look she's giving Genie is, generally, a lot more contemplative though. Girl isn't quite so soft as she'd expected. She listens to direction. She wants to do better. Juri hates to admit it, but this might actually not be such a bad idea after all. She's no Kim Kaphwan, but she can show someone the ropes... probably? It'd been much easier to outsource all of that to the local gangs, but, she's surprised to find, she doesn't really WANT to do that here.

"Who gives a crap what your parents think?" She asks, rhetorically. "You're not totally hopeless. Anyway. There's dangerous people in the world. They come looking for people like you, and all the fancy bodyguards money can buy won't keep them away. I should know."

She smiles, and it... is not a comforting smile; all teeth and no warmth as she tucks her hands behind the back of her head.

"Just keep working on those drills. We'll toughen you up. By the time we're through, you won't have to answer to anyone. Except me, of course."

[GENIE]
"Oh, um," Genie considers this for a minute. Does she care about what her parents think? This is a question she hadn't considered before. Perhaps, in this moment, she is having an existential crisis. It would be good to be able to defend herself, and then she wouldn't be depend on bodyguards and personal trainers and --

Genie takes a deep breath. That smile is unsettling.

"Yes ma'am! I'll perfect these, and then we can move on to the next stage -- if that's OK..."

Log created on 12:00:32 08/01/2023 by Juri, and last modified on 04:24:08 08/14/2023.